Corporate media falsely implies alleged Florida Trump shooter is a Democrat

A registered independent, Ryan Routh is erratic and unhinged, his politics all over the map. He supported a Vivek Ramaswamy/Nikki Haley ticket this year. Major media have ignored that.

The man who is being detained and investigated by the FBI in a possible attempted assassination of Donald Trump at his golf club in West Palm Beach is an erratic man with a troubled, criminal past. Nonetheless, he apparently was able to walk around Florida with an AK-47-style weapon which he had in his possession when apprehended.

Per his own X feed, Ryan Wesley Routh voted for Donald Trump in 2016. But as Routh became a fierce defender of Ukraine after Russia’s invasion—to the point of becoming obsessed with the conflict—he became disaffected with Trump.

On his feed, Routh is all over the map politically, supporting Democratic and Republican candidates, mostly anyone who would fight for Ukraine—but not always. As recently as this year, he supported a Vivek Ramaswamy-Nikki Haley ticket in the presidential race.

But you wouldn’t know that last bit from the major corporate media—from The New York Times and Washington Post to CNN and The Wall Street Journal. They’ve neatly put Routh in a box, depicting him as a fervent Ukraine loyalist who is anti-Trump and is supporting Democrats for that reason—when the reality is a lot more complicated.

The Signorile Report is reader-supported. If you’ve valued reading The Signorile Report, consider becoming a paid subscriber and supporting independent, ad-free opinion journalism. Thanks!

Routh apparently was spotted aiming a gun on Sunday at the golf club by a Secret Service agent well before Routh could have gotten what would have been a difficult shot, according to reports, and the agent fired shots in his direction. (Routh had apparently fired no shots.) Routh was near the fence of the golf club and fled in his car, according to reports. But a witness took photos, got his plates, and law enforcement apprehended him on the highway.

As soon as Routh’s name began circulating, major corporate media went through his Twitter, Facebook and other social media feeds, where there is a lot of unhinged and erratic stuff, including Covid conspiracy theories claiming China created the virus as a bioweapon. Shortly after the war in Ukraine began, Routh posted, “I AM WILLING TO FLY TO KRAKOW AND GO TO THE BORDER OF UKRAINE TO VOLUNTEER AND FIGHT AND DIE.”

His posts before and since—his account was apparently removed from X as of today, but I reviewed them last night—were often desperate, obsessive, and nonsensical.

He was among a few Americans to go to Ukraine to fight with the Ukrainians—the New York Times even interviewed him at the time in a piece about the more shady, unqualified American volunteers who should not have gone there—where there was tension between Routh and the International Legion and the Ukrainian Armed Forces.

What you can find in Routh’s feed is enough to claim he supported whatever candidate you’re backing.

Yes, he became anti-Trump, even though he voted for him. Yes, he urged Biden to do more and even complimented Biden, but he criticized Biden too. Yes, he supported Tulsi Gabbard in 2020, who was a Democratic House member (who later became an independent and is now supporting Trump), even though she was a Putin apologist (and thus not someone standing with Ukraine). Yes, he reportedly donated over $100 to Democrats through ActBlue in 2020. Only including references to those facts and posts from his feed, however, is simplifying Routh—and helping Trump.

That’s because Routh also supported the most extremist—other than Trump—among the GOP presidential candidates this year: Vivek Ramaswamy, a wannabe authoritarian. And he twice urged a Ramaswamy-Nikki Haley ticket, including in posts I screenshotted.

These posts do not even refer to the war in Ukraine as the reason Routh supported these two candidates. And Ramaswamy was ready to give Ukraine over to Russia in a proposed "pact" with Putin.

So it appears Routh just really liked Ramaswamy—despite his position on Ukraine—and Haley. And that further shows how incoherent Routh’s politics are.

According to CNN, Routh had moved to Hawaii from Greensboro, North Carolina, where he was registered as an unaffiliated voter. Routh also has a history of criminal activity.

In 2002, Routh was arrested after he was pulled over by police and allegedly put his hand on a firearm before barricading himself in a business, according to a Greensboro News & Record article that year that cited police. A law enforcement official confirmed the arrest to CNN on Sunday.

Public records reveal several court cases involving Routh since the 1990s.

State and federal authorities have repeatedly accused him of failing to pay his taxes on time. For example, he faced a federal tax lien in 2008 of about $32,000, according to court records.

In 1998, the state alleged he committed an offense related to a “worthless check,” though that case was dismissed.

Separately, judges have ordered him to pay tens of thousands of dollars to plaintiffs in various civil suits.

Yes, this guy has a prior conviction for possession of a machine gun. According to NBC:

After the 2002 arrest, authorities said they found the suspect in possession of a fully automatic machine gun, according to the Greensboro News & Record. The arrest coincides with North Carolina criminal court records that include Routh's conviction for possession of a weapon of mass destruction.

Records also show convictions for carrying a concealed weapon, possession of stolen property, and hit-and-run. In those cases, which included misdemeanor convictions for violations such as resisting an officer and driving on a suspended license, the defendant received a suspended sentence and parole or probation.

But nonetheless, this person was able to purchase, possess, and drive around Florida with an AK-47, where it’s legal to own that weapon of war. It’s not clear if this was a fully automatic AK-47 or semi-automatic style sold in he U.S, but both are lethal.

Even though you can’t buy a new fully-automatic AK 47 today—in 1986, a ban on fully-automatic weapons was passed by Congress, which prohibited possession of those that weren’t legally possessed prior to that year—Florida allows for the sale and possession of a used one from someone else who legally possessed it.

And Florida makes it easy for a convicted felon like Routh—someone banned from a gun purchase—or anyone to purchase a gun in a private sale.

So, first and foremost, this second possible attempt on Trump’s life, like the previous actual shooting in Butler, Pennsylvania, is about our lax gun laws in the United States and the ability of people who shouldn’t have guns to get weapons of war.

Then, when we look at any political affiliations, Routh is all over the place, including recently supporting Republicans, including the most extreme, even as he opposed Trump fiercely after first voting for him.

Routh’s politics are unstable and incoherent. The corporate media shouldn’t be simplifying his story—and thus sanewashing Routh. It should report all the details, including his support for extremist Republicans.